The Massachusetts Hospice-Veteran Partnership, in affiliation with the Hospice & Palliative Care Federation, provides educational opportunities for hospice staff to increase their understanding of important Veteran's issues.
The Massachusetts Hospice-Veterans Partnership (MHVP) was founded in 2004 as a coalition of VA facilities and community hospice programs working together to ensure that excellent care at the end of life is available fo U.S. veterans and their families. MHVP is pleased to announce an exciting new collaboration between community hospices and VA Medical Centers to provide an option for families of veterans for bereavement care. Within this pilot, community hospices have volunteered to open their existing community bereavement support programs to family members of veterans upon referral from a VA Medical Center.(...more)
The Military History Checklist is designed to help community hospices identify their veteran patients, evaluate the impact of the experience and determine if there are benefits to which the veteran and surviving dependents may be entitled. This Guide provides a quick overview of the questions and implications for each. Additional information can be found in the Military History Toolkit and on the Department of Veterans Affairs website. (...more)
Hospice programs may wish to download and customize these certificates to present to patients who are veterans in recognition of their military service. (Select the service branch below, to download Veteran Recognition Certificates)
A hospice may consider using these resources when caring for a hospice patient with PTSD symptoms:
•
Several screening tools can be used to help assess PTSD (see attached for one example). Please note that such tools may not be useful in the case of veterans who are confused or unable to report on their own emotional state.
•
The National Center for PTSD has a website with many resources regarding assessment, patient and family education, and treatment: http://www.ncptsd.va.gov
•
According to a VA clinician with expertise in treating PTSD, veterans who receive a terminal diagnosis often want to:
•
Make sure their story has been heard.
•
Put the traumatic events into some sort of perspective in their lives.
•
Deal with the effects that PTSD has had on their lives, such as mending relationships, giving and accepting closeness and affection, and getting affairs in order.
•
Veterans who are enrolled in the VA Health Care System may be referred to their primary care provider for assessment and possible referral for PTSD mental health services. Eligible but un-enrolled veterans who remain ambulatory and are interested in outpatient mental health services may enroll at any VA Medical Center and request needed services. Veterans may also access supportive services at community Vet Centers (see contact numbers below).
•
Hospice providers may contact VA PTSD clinics, or community Vet Centers, for information and consultation. Such consultation may be particularly helpful in the case of veterans who are homebound or otherwise too ill to access outpatient services.
